Homestuck: Controversial Edition

A blog where my friends and I post some hot takes that may be too much to handle about the lovely webcomic called Homestuck.

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Mod list and emoji key

Mod Mori-☀️

They/them

Mod Jake-🌱

He/they

Mod Sarah-💟

She/her

Mod Cupid - 💌

she/bun/he

Mod Joan - 🍭

She/They

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on the age of hal strider ;; 💌

hello! hi. i'm very busy and i like to fixate on very specific homestuck aspects that are perfectly fine to go without explanation, yet i will anyways, because there is nobody in my general vicinity able to stop me. on the age of hal strider.

if you perceive the autoresponder as a 13 year old, you are wrong. in multiple ways, actually. i like to consider myself very open minded to headcanons!! whatever keeps yourself comfortable. but hal is not a thirteen year old boy chronologically neither is he a thirteen year old mentally. this isn't even about the morality of shipping him with anyone, i don't care much for his shipping spectrum and i'm not here to comment on that! i am hesitant to ship him with others because of this as well!!! what i have an issue on is the infantilization of hal strider himself.

we've all read the comic once i'd like to hope, if twice even better. hal strider is not a 13 year old boy and perceiving him that way is a complete misunderstanding of his actual character. i love doing what i like regardless!! i love completely disregarding canon aspects to write what i want because it is fun!! who is stopping me!! nobody physically!! go ahead!! i don't give a fuck write what you want it's for fun!! have fun!! but hal strider in canon is not a thirteen year old kid and you cannot push that onto others like that is the truth.

chronologically, hal strider was developed from the 13 year old brain of dirk strider and converted to a piece of ai. that alone no longer gives hal the brain of an actual 13 year old, even if he was only 13 years old chronologically (he isn't). treating a piece of everlearning ai — with infinite access to the internet and a completely changed "brain" — like a thirteen year old with a thirteen year old perception and thirteen year old experiences and thirteen year old emotions is stupid. it's dumb, and hal is clearly more advanced than dirk is in a lot of areas. he has a personality. originally the personality dirk had when he was at thirteen judging by his "immature" sense of humor, but hal and a thirteen year old dirk strider are completely different.

dirk really doesn't know what he's done here, giving a fragment of himself supercomputer intelligence and infinite reach with no limits, but that's a rant for another time.

you can't argue that hal strider is a 13 year old chronologically, either. hal was brought to life with a copy of dirk's 13 year old brain. which he copied when he was 13. that was three years ago from when we're first introduced to him, and it's so odd how some don't think he's a 16 year old kid to me. the autoresponder is clearly an autonomously learning piece of software. there is no way he hasn't "aged" mentally in those three years he's existed. he's an exact copy of dirk's brain at 13. just because they didn't mature the exact same doesn't mean the autoresponder hasn't at all. again, with all of hal's technological freedom and the supercomputer brain he was given, i don't think there's any way he could develop to be the same as dirk (who's literally just normal) at 16. it hasn't shaped who dirk is like it has with hal.

despite all of this, i invite you to ignore it if you want!! write a fic where hal strider is a dumb 13 year old kid and dirk's annoying little brother if that's what you want. if you like perceiving him that way please make content for your headcanon!! it isn't hurting anyone. it doesn't hurt me or anyone else on the internet that would even matter. yes, it directly goes against canon, but that doesn't mean anything. do it anyways, so that when someone throws a fit they look like a little bugeyed freak that gets really really mad when people don't write even remotely according to the rules of a fictional piece of media. i suggest it, it's funny!! i point and laugh because it is hilarious and then i go back to ignoring the rules because i want to.

but don't force it onto others. then you're the weird little bugeyed freak.

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This will quite possibly be one of the biggest discourse discussions posted here. What is the topic? John/June Egbert. Coming from someone who has been in the Homestuck fandom for quite a while, this is my take on our lovely windsock person.

JOHN AND JUNE CAN CO-EXIST.

As we've read in canon, there is the possibly of a MILLION different timelines and a MILLION different possibilities. It would be wrong to think that only one version of the kids can exist throughout every single timeline or universe. There can be a universe where everyone is a troll, or everyone is a literal animal. "Oh, but Hussie made June canon with the Toblerone Bar! Only June can exist and if you think otherwise, you're a TERF!" Uhm, no? If you think that with June, hold the same energy with Roxy Lalonde. The HS fandom has no problems with transfem Roxy headcanons or genderfluid Roxy, and transmasc Roxy too. But when it comes to John/June, the fandom loses their shit and tries to cancel you in two seconds. It's ok to have different opinions on a character than others, but if someone isn't actively doing anything problematic with their character headcanons, then let them be and leave them alone. It's ok to think that John Egbert is good. It's ok to think that June Egbert is good. It's ok to think that Joan Egbert exists too! (Joan is an enby Egbert headcanon that I've seen)

To sum this up, please don't hate on people over the world of Egbert lore and Egbert gender. The world of Homestuck is one that can be anything.

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I think this can be taken outside of a Homestuck context, but my god is it fairly prevalent here due to the existence of FANSESSIONS, TROLLSONAS, and OTHER ORIGINAL CHARACTERS the use the HOMESTUCK CANON as a funky JUMPING BOARD. So, with that—–-

Making oc's and fan content is not bad! It is not cringe, it is not shameful, and it should not be shunned. There will always be a minority of terrible things made to be harmful, but for the overwhelming majority, this is all harmless fun that is used to express oneself through a media they enjoy. And due to the nature of Homestuck and it's characters and content, there is a lot to take from!

These ideas are special to the person making them, and is in many ways an extension and expression of themselves. Beating this down is just as bad as beating the person down!

I feel like due to the nature of canonicity, people are quick to accept characters that are canon in-universe, but it should really be noted that even canon is still, someone's oc(s). Andrew Hussie creates these characters, they're theirs, and they're their oc's! It is hardly different from a fan making fanon content.

Making your own creative content that shares a universe or common attributes with a pre-existing media or franchise is valid, because in the end, it's the same as making said media or franchise. The quality just depends on the person.

If it makes someone happy, and is entirely harmless, is it really worth being mean or rude? Aren't we all humans, making content we enjoy? How is making fan content any different from original content, and why does it have to be less than the original/inspired content?

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Woah! Possibly one of the many big discussions we’ll have here on this channel! This gets real!

I will dive right in.

Content Warning for discussion of Bro Strider!

I am absolutely tired of Bro Strider discourse.

Genuinely exhausted at the amount of people acting like Bro is the only bad character in Homestuck.

I feel that if you are going to deeply criticize one character for their bad actions/behaviors, then it must be done to the rest.

I’m not excusing Bros canon actions by any means when saying this, but Bro wasn’t just thrown into HS as an/ to be an abuser. He was heavily heavily influenced by Lil Cal, I mean we saw the effects it had on Gamzee when he got ahold of him. It’s even proven that looking into the eyes of the puppet can cause insanity, as we also saw with Gamzee and Jack Noir. Every single persons hands that Cal falls into has immense nightmares, you’d think he has an important role in these characters developments.

Imagine being given a child at such a young age, with no prior experience, and being told to prepare this child for a war, of course he’s not going to know how to raise a kid. AGAIN, not excusing his actions, but he was VERY very important to Dave’s character development, and was also literally being mind controlled while raising him.

In fact, Bros character was the only one of the guardians who was not 100% consciously aware of his actions.

Mom Lalonde-I don’t think she needs an explanation. Dad Egbert, literally feeding his son something he is deathly allergic to for the simplicity of a prank.

In fact, their are multiple characters with triggering/bad/abusive actions in HS other than Bro. Including Jane, who I will make a post about another day (:

I only ever see people having issues with Bro online, and it’s upsetting. I get told a lot that I need to censor my discussion of him online, but the same people who tell me this will go talk about the other guardians and not hold them accountable as well.

Now, I can understand triggers! If a character genuinely triggers you and you need a warning, that’s understandable! But I think people need to really deeply evaluate not only Bros character, but the rest of the guardians and other characters as well, before only putting Bro on blast.

None of these statements are me claiming that was he did to Dave is justified, because it’s certainly not. Bro is still 100% guilty of his actions. But I hope that people will hold everyone else just as accountable.

I also want to point out that finding a character PHYSICALLY attractive is not the same as finding them emotionally attractive. I see discourse a lot about it being bad to find characters like Bro attractive, but there’s a huge difference in how that attraction is derived. A character having physically appealing features does not suddenly make them a good person, nor does it make anyone who finds them attractive a bad person. Have you seen all the Ted Bundy simps?

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it hasn't even been five minutes but hello. it's cherub talktime.

Caliborn redemption arc?? Is that possible?

Not really, no. Caliborn is very happy being Terrible™. he doesnt have a reason need nor want to be redeemed—and in the case of redemption for romance (which I've seen in a good number of fics) is unlikely at best, and is still a tangled mess of him doing what he Wants (and god forbid he loses control of himself and the things around him. He gets antsy when things don't go his way, through his plan, by his means).

on the topic of the cherubim, calliope.!! the shetheypogchamp. Calliope has a lot of her own flaws! Ignoring them in favour of keeping her as the "good" counterpart to caliborn (or even just as the good character in the story—Calliope did nothing wrong, sort of thing) is a terrible perversion of her character. Goodness, you can have a good character do terrible things! A good character can be wrong in some areas, or lacking, or just not be perfect. What makes them good isn't just that she's aligned with what's right and helps the heros win—it's also that Calliope is willing to change for the better, to learn from her mistakes and grow. That is what defines a good person.

Caliborn does not want to change, nor should he. He's a prime (and somewhat exaggerated) example of a person who is never going to change, and is perfectly content carrying out their malevolent deeds. He does not want redemption. Nor should he be given it.

That's all there really is to say on the matter.

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Meet the Mods - Joan

What a wonderful day it is to be!! Greetings lovelies behind the screens, I am Joan and very excited to simply be here! ^u^ I have been into Homestuck for almost a year now, and my favourite characters are the cherubim!! My pronouns are she/they, and I can also be called Bery.

I've a plethora of other blogs, @tenuredchrysalism being my ramble blog, @lemonberyy is my main, and also the small askblog @uracilangel ! And now this one, oh goodness it's really growing, huh...

Don't hesitate on those asks!! We'd love to hear what you've got. :)

Anyhoo! With that, I bid you a goodbye... But-! You will be seeing plenty of me later~ Toodles!

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Meet the Mods! - Sarah

I’m Sarah and I’ve been in the fandom for over four years now, though I tend to forget large chunks of the story at any given time. I go by she/her pronouns. I enjoy cosplay, though I haven’t done much of it myself and prefer to see other people’s hard work! (Wigs and makeup are uncomfortable) My favorite characters have to be Jade and Roxy.

I’ll likely be the least active mod, and post primarily hiveswap opinions as I’ve consumed it more recently, but still!

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Meet the Mods! - Mori

Well howdy folks! I’m glad you could make it to this blog! As you know by the mod list, my name is Mori! I go by they/them and I like having good fandom fun! My favorite homestuck character is Rose Lalonde, and I have quite a few takes on our lovely beta kids! I also do cosplay, and have another blog called the Guide to Homestuck Cosplay here on tumblr! I can’t wait to see how far this will go! Don’t be afraid to ask me questions! Just remember to be respectful! See you in the next post! ; 3 ☀️

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Hi! I’m Mod Jake! I figured a little introduction would suffice.

My pronouns are He/They

I’ve been in the HS fandom for a little over two years now, not too long. My favorite characters are Jake and Gamzee! I have a lot of personal takes and opinions regarding the guardians, so you’ll see a lot of that from me!

I enjoy things like cosplay and drawing! My main Tumblr Account is @ajskpopp

Feel free to leave us any asks or questions! (:

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First post!

Hiveswap technically, but same universe.

Anyway, Dammek isn’t a shitty moirail. Could be proven wrong later, but I doubt it.

Dammek has pictures of him and Xefros all throughout his hive, and even taped onto movie posters.

He is overly protective from a human perspective, but like any cultural examination, you have to try to remove your own biases.

Trolls have a strict hierarchy, and Xefros is at the bottom. Xefros can be killed with no consequences, especially if it was found out he was a rebel. His tests are a way of making sure he’s prepared. Xefros saw a clearly suspicious situation and assumed it was still Dammek, so he is a little naive, meaning the overprotective nature is likely very warranted.

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